This week I’ll be publishing five short posts on the craft of writing.
Today: Rewriting – the real work of writing
Or stated another way: Writing IS real work.
I talk with a lot of people about how they struggle with writing. To them it seems as if writing should be something simple. If everyone can speak correct English, why is writing so hard?
First, not everyone can speak correctly or even clearly. Next, writing is difficult because most of us do not think clearly. It’s never more apparent than when we write down our thoughts and are forced to ask, “is that really what I mean?” And it’s more difficult than you’d think to communicate clearly and completely.
Writing is thought made visible. Your words can be closely examined. What could be more difficult?
Writing is hard work. And the largest part of that work, the real heavy lifting, comes in rewriting. I rewrote this piece three times before publishing it. Why? Because my first two drafts didn’t clearly communicate what I was trying to say. And I’m fortunate to have an editor in Penny who kicks back copy when it doesn’t work.
As I suggested in 500-Word Essays – An Effective Technique You Learned In High School, you’ve got work to do before you start writing. But once you’ve done that basic work and thought through your structure and material, you can then sit down to write that first draft. If you’ve prepared as I’ve suggested, you will likely find that the words come easily. That’s because you’ve worked out your thoughts and arguments. You have a clear message to communicate. Then, when you finish, you’ll find some good things and some not so good in what you’ve written. Where do you go from there?
Here are my recommendations for rewriting:
- After writing your first draft, let it sit for at least one day.
- Read it on the second day and make it bleed.
- Consider your intended audience. Does this piece work for them?
- If possible, let it sit for one more day.
- Then begin your second draft.
- Most important: have a trusted reader review it before you send it on to your intended audience, client, your blog, etc. Be prepared to rewrite it again.
As I said - writing IS real work. But when you’re done with this process, you’ll find that what you’ve written is closer to what you’re trying to communicate. Sometimes, in the rewriting process, you’ll only have to touch up things a bit. Other times you’ll find that you have to tear out big sections and rework them completely. But if you have the drive to communicate, I think you’ll find this effort rewarding, because the end result is something you can be proud of.
These are the steps I take with the pieces in this blog and I think it makes a big difference in the quality of the final work. It does require discipline and scheduling to make it happen, but once you have the habit of it, it becomes second nature, a process you can rely on.
If you want to become a writer or just a better communicator, you’ll have to do the work of the writer. That means you’ll need to be willing to tear apart your first draft and write it again, make it stronger, make it good.
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